Moore, George
1852-1933.

George Moore letters to Lady Leonie Leslie

1897–1977

Descriptive Summary

Identification: MSS 99, F649

Creator: Moore, George
1852-1933.

Title: George
Moore letters to Lady Leonie Leslie

Inclusive Dates: 1897–1977

Extent: 15 items

Abstract: Collection of eleven letters from Irish writer George Moore to Lady Leonie Leslie, found in Sir
Shane Leslie's copy of the book,
GM: Memories of George
Moore. Also includes Sir Shane Leslie's review of the book and three letters written to him.

Source

Processing

Processed by Anita Wellner, December 2000. Encoded by Debra Johnson, June 2007.

Access Restrictions

The collection is open for research.

Terms Governing Use and
Reproduction

Use of materials from this collection beyond the exceptions provided for in
the Fair Use and Educational Use clauses of the U.S. Copyright Law may violate
federal law. Permission to publish or reproduce is required from the copyright
holder. Please contact Special Collections Department, University of Delaware
Library,
http://www.lib.udel.edu/cgi-bin/askspec.cgi

Biographical Note

George Moore

Irish author George Augustus Moore was born February 24,
1852, at Moore Hall, County Mayo.

Most of Moore's childhood was spent in
Ireland, where he was tutored locally. In 1861 he was sent for formal education
at Oscott. He withdrew from the school in 1867, after an experience which he
described with bitterness in
Confessions of a Young Man (1888).
From 1869 to 1873 Moore lived in London, where his father had moved the family
in 1869 after his election to Parliament in 1868. After his father's death in
1870, Moore painted, visited art galleries, and led a gentleman's life in
England.

From 1873–1880 Moore lived in Paris, studied at l'École des
Beaux Arts and the Jullian's Academy, and met many of the period's avant-garde
painters and writers. Notable among the many he encountered were Mallarmé,
Manet, Monet, Degas, Pissarro, Renoir, Sisley, and Zola.

Although Moore
exhibited some talent as a painter, Moore did not believe his ability was
sufficient for creating great art. In the 1870s Moore began to write and had
probably written a comedy titled
Worldliness by 1874. No copies
of this initial work have survived. His first published work was a volume of
poems titled
Flowers of Passion (1878). The book of poems was
followed by
Martin Luther (1879), a tragedy written in
collaboration with dramatist Bernard Lopez.

Financial difficulties forced
his return to London in 1880, where he worked at earning a living by writing.
In 1883 George Moore's first novel,
A Modern Lover, appeared.
During the 1880s and 1890s his works included
A Mummer's Wife
(1885),
A Drama in Muslin (1886),
Confessions of a Young
Man (1888), and
Esther Waters (1894).

In 1901
Moore left London and settled in Dublin, Ireland, where he wrote and produced
plays, gave speeches defending the theatre movement, and began writing material
which reflected his Irish heritage. During this period he wrote the collection
of stories,
The Untilled Field (1903); a novel,
The
Lake (1905); and his three-volume autobiography,
Hail and
Farewell (1911–1914).

In 1911 Moore returned from Ireland and
lived at 121 Ebury Street in London until his death in 1933. From 1911 to 1932
Moore wrote numerous books, including
The Brook Kerith (1916),
A Story-Teller's Holiday (1918),
Avowals (1919),
Héloise and Abélard (1921),
Daphnis and Chloe
(1924),
Ulick and Soracha (1926), and
Aphrodite
in Aulis (1930).

Sir Shane Leslie and Lady Leonie
Leslie

Sir John Leslie, 2nd Baronet, married Leonie Jerome, whose elder
sister Jenny married Lord Randolph Churchill. Both of the sisters were
excellent pianists, pupils of Czerny, and friends of George Moore. Lady Leslie
died in August 1943. Lady Leslie's son, the writer Sir John Randolph (Shane) Leslie,
was born on September 24, 1885, at Castle Leslie, County Monaghan, Ireland. He
was educated at Eton College and at King's College, Cambridge, where he
converted to Roman Catholicism, became an Irish nationalist, began to use the
Irish form of his name, Shane, and renounced his family estate.

During
World War I, Leslie was assigned to the British Ambulance Corps but on his way
to the Dardanelles, he became ill. He was transferred to a military hospital in
Malta, where he wrote his first autobiographical work,
The End of a
Chapter, published in 1916.

During 1916 and 1917, Leslie worked
in Washington, D.C., with the British ambassador, to improve Irish American
relations with England, and to urge the United States to join the war against
Germany. While in Washington he published the journal entitled
Ireland.

During his life Leslie was a prolific writer of prose and verse,
including his last published work, the autobiographical
Long
Shadows (1966). He also lectured on Irish politics, culture, and
reforestation.

Scope and Content
Note

The fifteen items in this small collection include eleven
letters written by George Moore to Lady Leonie Leslie that are tipped into Sir
Shane Leslie's copy of Nancy Cunard's
GM: Memories of George
Moore (London: Rupert Hart-Davis, 1956). George Moore was a close
friend of Lady Emerald Cunard, Nancy Cunard's mother, and encouraged Nancy when
she began her own writing career. This first edition, which bears Sir Shane
Leslie's bookplate and signature on the inside front cover, also includes three
letters written to Sir Shane Leslie by other individuals and an article clipped
from a newspaper. The three letters regarding George Moore, which were laid in
the volume, are housed in MSS 99 F649, with photocopies of the Moore letters.
The eleven original letters written by George Moore remain tipped into the
book.

Moore's eleven letters, which were written between 1897 and 1925,
suggest a long and amiable friendship with Lady Leslie. George Moore wrote in
response to invitations for social events and dinner engagements. In his
letters he discussed travel plans, offered his opinions on recently observed
plays, and mentioned mutual acquaintances such as Lady Cunard and Lady Charles.
In one lengthy letter to Lady Leslie, Moore commented regarding her son, Sir
Shane Leslie, who had converted to Catholicism and become an ardent proponent
of Irish nationalism.

Four additional items were found in this volume,
including a clipping of Sir Shane Leslie's review "George Moore in Love," which
remains tipped into the book, and the three loose letters to Sir Leslie which
have been removed from the book. These three letters were written by two of
George Moore's biographers and by Lady Cunard. The letter from Emerald Cunard
is a transcription of a letter in which she declined to allow her letters from
George Moore to be edited or published. Joseph Hone's four-page letter regarded
the correspondence between Moore and Nancy Cunard. The typed letter from Robert
Becker (addressed to "madam") discussed Moore's letters to Lady Leslie, as well
as Moore's relationship with Lady Randolph Churchill, Lady Leonie Leslie's
sister.

The letters written by George Moore to Lady Leslie, with the
letters written regarding Moore found in his copy of Nancy Cunard's
GM:
Memories of George Moore, enhance an interesting association copy,
which confirms the life-long friendship between George Moore and Lady
Leslie.

Arrangement
Note

Letters are tipped into Sir Shane Leslie's copy of Nancy Cunard's
GM: Memories of George Moore (available in Special Collections). The letters are arranged in the order in which they are tipped into the Cunard volume.

Detailed Contents List

Series I. Letters written by George Moore to Lady Leonie Leslie, 1897–1925